Shoulder Arthritis

Different types of arthritis affect the shoulder joint. They all present with pain, stiffness, and loss of range of movement to varying degrees.

The main clinical entities are :

• Primary osteoarthritis
• Rheumatoid arthritis
• Secondary osteoarthritis
• Rotator cuff tear arthropathy

There are a few different types of shoulder joint replacement options and the decision to use a particular type of replacement depends in part on the type of arthritis, the age of the patient, and importantly the integrity of the rotator cuff – the muscles attaching to the head of the humerus which “stabilise” the ball and socket moving together.

More recently, a newer design of total shoulder replacement called a reverse total shoulder replacement has been used with good results for the setting of arthritis with a cuff-deficient shoulder.